The Effect of a Therapy Dog Activity on Employees' Stress, Mood, and Job Satisfaction and Commitment
- Conditions
- StressMoodJob Satisfaction
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Therapy dog activityBehavioral: Low impact exercise
- Registration Number
- NCT03849144
- Lead Sponsor
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- Brief Summary
The goal of the current study is to determine if participating in a therapy dog activity is associated with changes in perceived stress, mood, and job satisfaction and commitment. A secondary goal is to explore a potential dose effect of multiple treatments as well as control for novelty effect.
- Detailed Description
This study will be conducted at Aetna Headquarters in Hartford, Connecticut. A pre-post repeated measures design will be used to compare study participant outcomes between a treatment (therapy dog activity) and comparison (low impact physical activity) condition. Outcome variables of interest are perceived stress measured by a stress visual analog scale (SVAS), mood measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), and job satisfaction and commitment measured by an investigator-developed Job Satisfaction Survey (consisting of a combination of existing validated scales). Pet ownership, attitudes toward dogs measured by the Dog Attitude Scale, and trait stress, measured by the Perceived Stress Scale, will be assessed as moderating variables.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- WITHDRAWN
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- Not specified
- Current Aetna employees
- Individuals not employed by Aetna. Note:employees are self-selecting to participate, therefore dog fears or allergies are not listed as exclusion criteria.
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- CROSSOVER
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Therapy dog activity Therapy dog activity Interact with visiting therapy dogs for 15 minutes on two Fridays Low impact physical activity Low impact exercise Participate in 15-minute low impact physical activity on two Fridays
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method 20-item Positive and Negative Affect Schedule Baseline to week 3 Self reported mood immediately before and after each activity. Each item is scored 1-5 (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree). 10 items comprise the positive affect scale with scores ranging from 10 - 50, with higher scores indicating higher positive affect. 10 items comprise the negative affect scale with total scores ranging from 10 - 50, with lower scores indicating lower negative affect.
Single Item Stress Measure Baseline to week 3 Changes in self reported stress on visual analog scale (VAS) immediately before and after each activity. Scale ranges from "none" to "most severe imaginable" on 15 cm scale.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Single Item Stress Measure Baseline to week 5 Changes in self reported stress on visual analog scale (VAS) after two intervention activities. Scale ranges from "none" to "most severe imaginable" on 15 cm scale.
20-item Positive and Negative Affect Schedule Baseline to week 5 Self reported mood two intervention activities. Each item is scored 1-5 (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree). 10 items comprise the positive affect scale with scores ranging from 10 - 50, with higher scores indicating higher positive affect. 10 items comprise the negative affect scale with total scores ranging from 10 - 50, with lower scores indicating lower negative affect.
9-item Job Satisfaction and Commitment Scale Baseline to week 5 Self reported job satisfaction ( 3 items) and commitment (6 items) at baseline, after the first and last activity. Each item is scored 1-5 (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Total scores range from 9-45 with higher scores indicating greater job satisfaction and commitment
Trial Locations
- Locations (2)
Aetna Headquarters
🇺🇸Hartford, Connecticut, United States
Virginia Commonwealth University
🇺🇸Richmond, Virginia, United States